Car-coupling



UNTED STATES JOI-IN O. BRYANT, OF CHARITY, TENNESSEE, ASSIGNOR OFTIVO-THIRDS TO JAMES N. BRYANT, OF SAME PLACE, AND JOHN N. SULLIVAN, OFFLAT CREEK, TENNESSEE.

CAR-COUPLING.

' SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 401,726, dated April16, 1889.

Application filed December 27, 1887. Serial No. 259,161. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN C. BRYANT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Charity, in the county of Moore and State of Tennes see,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oar-Oouplings, ofwhich. the following is a specification.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in car-couplingsgand it consists 1o in certain peculiarities of the construction andarrangement of the same, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth,and specifically claimed.

In'order to enable others skilled in the art to which my inventionpertains to make and use the same, l will now proceed to describe it.

The objects of my invention are, first, to afford an automatic couplingwhich shall be strong, safe, and reliable in its action, and at zo thesame time adapted to be easily uncoupled without going between the cars,thus avoiding accidents and loss of life, so frequent in the presentsystem of coupling; secondly, to afford facilities for coupling cars ofirregular height,

2 5 and, thirdly, to obviate the use of links. I attain these objects bythe mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figurel is a front elevation of a car with my device attached.' Fig. 2 is adetail plan 3o view of my invention; Fig. 3, a horizontal section online 3 3 of Fig. 1i. Fig. a is a longitudinal section on line 4 4 ofFig. 2. Fig. 5 is a modification.

In the drawings, a represents the end of an 3 5 ordinary freight or boxcar; b, the draw-head, which is made of iron, and is secured. to the carin the usual manner. c is a vertical rod to be used when it is desiredto uncouple from the top of a car.

d is a horizontal rod to be used in uncoupling from the ground or theside of the cars. These rods are secured to the car by ordinary eyeboltsor otherwise, and are connected or joined to cranks c c (which form aportion of my uncoupling device) by means of chains f.

g is a pin, made of suitable inateriahlength, and size, and provided ateach. end with a tapering or conical-shaped head, seen in the drawings.In Fig. 5 I have shown a modified form of this pin, which I may use incoupling 5o cars of irregular height.

h h are clutches rigidly secured to the crankshafts e' i and adapted toengage with the pinhead, as will be presently explained.

7c k are springs secured at one end to the 55 side of vthe recess Z inthe' draw-head. The other end of each spring is slightly bent, so as topermit of free action, and impinges with the outside of the clutches hh, as will be more readily understood by referring to the draw- 6o ingsFig. 3.

m is a removable plate secured to the drawhead just back of the flaringopening n and above the recess l by means of screw-bolts or otherwise,and which may be removed when it is desired to repair or replace thesprings or clutches.

It will be seen in Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings that I form thedraw-head with the usual fiaring opening, n, to allow a free insertionof 7o the pin and to permit of lateral motion to the pin when the carsare turning a curve, either of the springs yielding sufficiently to makea very short curve, while the other forces the opposite clutch firmlyagainst the pin behind 7 5 the head thereof, thus rendering itimpossible to become uncoupled. Through suitable holes in the plate m, Ipass the crank-shafts 12 t', to which are firmly secured the clutches hh. The lower ends of these shafts are socketed in 8o suitable bearingsin the bottom of the recess of the drawehead, and to the upper ends thecranks e e are securely attached. As seen in Fig. 2 of the drawings,these cranks are joined together by a chain, o, attached to the end ofeach, which is held taut when the cranks are in their normal position.Midway between the said. cranks and to the chain 0, I attach the chainsj', which are secured at the other ends to the rods c and d. 9o

IVhile I prefer to use the form of spring shown in the drawings, it isobvious that a spiral one could. be substituted therefor, and that theresult would be the same. The rods c and c7. are loosely held to thecars, so that when the chains f are wound around them and the uncouplingis performed the springs pressing the clutches together will force theends of the cranks apart, and thus unwind the chains, leaving theclutches free to grasp the pin when it is again inserted.

The operation of my coupling is very simple and perfectly reliable. Thepin is inserted by the operator into the opening of the drawhead andpressed back until its head passes the clutches, which, being heldtogether by the springs, noW clasp the pin, holding it in a horizontalposition. The cars are then run together and the coupling made in theother draw-head in manner similar to above. To uncouple, it is onlynecessary to use either of the rods c and which draws the ends of thecranks together and separates the clutches, thus releasing the pin. Itwill be readily understood that the pin remains in one of thedraw-heads, and that no links are required.

The use of the crooked pin p is obvious and does not requireexplanation.

Having thus fully described my invention, What I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a car-coupling, the combination of the draw-head h, having the recessZ, the iiaring opening n, provided With a removable plate, fm, with theclutches h, the cranks e, having crank-shafts 1', the springs la, thechains f and o, the rods c and cl, and pin g, having a conical-shapedheadfat each end, all constructed, arranged, and operating substantiallyas shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

Dated this 16th day of December, 1887.

JOHN C. BRYANT.

Witnesses:

W. E. BRYANT, I. N. BRYANT.

